When In Galle...
For all proud bearers of tickets for the Galle Literary Festival happening from January 13, Galle is a trip just waiting to happen.
Whenever my friends plan our annual ‘let’s go out of Colombo and pretend like our parents will let us stay overnight unsupervised’ trip, I have a tendency to suggest Galle. Every time. I suggested Galle this year, last year and the year before. In my defence, this is because Galle never gets old and it never gets boring.
Now, I’m in no way an expert on Galle. I’ve only visited a handful of times and that’s simply not enough to know all that there is to know about Galle. But for those of you’ll heading to Galle all hyped up for the Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2016, here’s a small personal insight into Galle and a hint or two about the things you must try out.
#1 Leave Thy Worries… and Thy Car
The Galle Fort is not meant to be ‘ooh’ed and ‘aaah’ed at from the safe confines of your vehicle. You can’t just cruise down the road and peer at the shops from your window. Fort is meant for long walks on roads that seem to never end in flip flops and sunglasses. Walking on roads that doesn’t have holes is a luxury, enjoy it!
But if walking isn’t exactly something you’re very keen on – there’s a better idea. Rent a scooter. I’ve never tried it (can’t ride a bicycle - doubt I can handle a scooter) but it looks like so much fun! It’s also the closest you’ll get to pretending that you are in Italy riding around in your little Vespa.
#2 Flag Rock
Towards the southernmost end of the Fort is the Flag Rock: Home to many selfies and romance. During daylight don’t be surprised to see a few people dive over the rock and towards the very end of the day, it’s the gathering block for couples hoping to catch a romantic sunset together. So if you’ve got an adventurous streak in you (and if you can swim, that’s important) take a dive into the blue waters or just hang around and catch the sunset – it’s phenomenal.
#3 Walk the Rampart
From the rampart the view of the ocean is magnificent – the kind that refuses to be captured with justice on camera. But don’t just walk the rampart because of the absolutely breath-taking view of the sea, walk it because of the vendors. I’m not taking about the ‘please buy this grossly expensive necklace’ kind of vendors but rather the ‘hey, care to touch this snake’ kind of vendors. Admit it; you’ve always wanted a snake curled around your neck – or at least a picture of it. And despite the authorities refusing to let you climb up and see a view you know would change your life, the outside view of the lighthouse is a pretty good stop as well.
#4 Brush Up On Your History
I know that the last thing you want to do is brush up on your history and spend time looking at artefacts but Galle has two great museums that are worth sparing 15 minutes over. The National Museum is in one of the most oldest buildings in Galle Fort and the Maritime Museum has a string of multiple sized anchors leading up to the museum.
#5 Where’s the Food?
Everywhere. You cannot walk 10 steps without seeing a food place. And that’s okay because all that walking, cliff diving, snake touching and history learning will exhaust you at one point and make you ravenous. The plus point is that your options are limitless, the negative is ‘WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OPTIONS?! WHICH ONE DO I CHOOSE?!’. This is our crisis every time we try to find a place to eat and more often than not we run off to our usual place.
But honestly, your food options are absolutely limitless. The Fort is home to a few legendary establishments that serve up delicious, homemade cuisine at affordable prices but these are too numerous to mention here.
For more high-end choices in one location you should head on over to the Dutch Hospital in Galle. There’s Thai Heritage, A Minute by Tuk Tuk, Hammock Café, Sugar Bistro and a whole lot more so you’ll be spoilt for choice. But if none of them are your calling then you can go to where every person who’s travelling to Galle has been told to go – Peddlers Inn Café.
And once done with the main course, whether you are stuffed or not, not having an ice cream from Peddlers Inn Gelato is not an option. It’s a must in your list. (Tip – This took me several visits to figure out but they have a small room upstairs that’s yours for 30 minutes to relax in the AC and enjoy your ice cream).
#6 For Shoppers and Window Shoppers
Equivalent to the amount of food shops are the clothes and trinket shops. You have the major labels like Barefoot and Luv SL but you also have a few surprises, like Three by TPV. It’s a Swedish novelty store in Fort with some of the quirkiest stuff in store. Their interior design pieces are unique and creative and the whole store is just a fun place to explore. There’s also several other shops that sells a lot of handmade jewellery, gems and even carrier bags made out of rice bags!
#7 Surf, Sand and Sun
At the end of the day, the one thing you really want when you go to the coastal area is the beach, the waves and some relaxing under the sun. The Galle Beach is a great place but it’s also a whole lot crowded and it’s not the perfect place to relax. But if you are willing to go an extra mile – take a 15 minute drive to visit the Jungle Beach. It gets its name simply because in order to get to the beach, you have to hike your way through a small paved path in a jungle!
We blessedly stumbled into it on a day where no one was there so we had the beach all to ourselves till 5 in the evening. The beach was an absolute stunner; soft sand, clear waters and tiny white (harmless) sand crabs. It was the perfect place to relax, unwind and get a sunburn (that’s totally worth it!).
Of course there’s a whole lot more that you can do! Lots of places offer tours, water sports and various other activities to do in Galle. I think that the best thing about Galle is that whether you are a new visitor or a repeating visitor like me, you will always find something new, something a whole lot more exciting to do in Galle. Whether it’s discovering a great meal, a quirky little shop or even a hidden spot to unwind – Galle will never get monotonous. A few trips in and I’ve barely scratched the surface.
Text and photographs by Panchali Illankoon
.jpg)
.jpg)
0 Comments